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MasterTaste Provides New Way to Find Graduate Programs

MasterTaste is a new site that launched last month in the United Kingdom offering a new, interesting way for prospective graduate students to find the program that could offer them the best fit across the United Kingdom and Europe. Here’s a quick video for the site:

What MasterTaste has done is sit down with deans, faculty members and school representatives from across Europe and they ask them the hard questions about their institutions – no glossy, over-produced commercials here, the videos are impartial and in-depth.

It’s a definite change in strategy from what we tend to do in the US. We tend to produce 2-3 minute overview videos showing students, faculty and the benefits of our program. When making an investment in a graduate program, sometimes that isn’t enough. If I were actively searching out a particular graduate program, I would definitely sit and watch a 30-40 minute video that really goes in-depth on a program or institution. I don’t know if I’m ready to decide after 5 minutes.

I like how MasterTaste layout the pages for each program, providing the entire video as well as highlights and links to certain parts of the program they find interesting. Here’s a sample page, in this case the page for the University of Cologne’s Master in International Management.

As I said, I really like the idea. I’m not sure a site like this would work given the size and scope of higher ed in the USA, but I’ve been wrong before.

They reached out to me to show me the site and I really liked it. I asked them if they had a press release or more info, which is below.

MasterTaste Provokes Europe’s Best Business Schools

Face-to-face with Deans from leading business schools, MasterTaste asks tough questions on behalf of the intelligent applicant. With a rapid-fire, fiercely intellectual tone, these long-form interviews look at the nuts and bolts of popular MBA and MIM programs, challenging jargon and poking fun to force clarity on each program’s unique points.

Why? In the crowded Higher Education marketplace, the voices of business schools sound confusingly similar. Faced with dry rankings and indistinguishable promotional materials, candidates lack meaningful – qualitative – decision-making tools to gauge which school offers them the best fit.

With cameras rolling (and nowhere to hide) schools are forced to present an engaging and honest account. To win the respect of would-be students, Deans must define – and defend – pedagogic values, successes and failures, and their program’s raison d’être.

Results from MasterTaste’s beta period are extremely promising for both programs and students:

Gloria Batllori, MBA Director ESADE: “MasterTaste’s direct and edgy style provides an innovative way for potential MBA students to find out what is really behind business schools. They are a great team to work with but you better be well prepared for their questions!”

Manuel Alvarado Amado, ESADE student, forthcoming 2014 class: “Accepted into ESADE, btw. Your interview was key into both determining my fit within the program and deciding where to finally apply in the Barcelona schools. Thank you once again guys.”

Reflecting its international focus, MasterTaste has partnered with CEMS and their global alliance of top business schools. As well as interviewing four CEMS schools; St. Gallen, NHH, University of Cologne, and Bocconi, MasterTaste also interviewed CEMS Executive Director Roland Siegers to discuss their top ranked Master’s in International Management program, who said, “The team at MasterTaste have a true interest in their clients. The videos are a great tool for school communication, reaching out to future customers – many of whom are desperate for ‘real’ insights beyond ordinary marketing pitches.” Watch the full CEMS video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4iRr1QqSRQ

The MBA section presents interviews with many FT100 schools: Cass, Cranfield, EMLYON, ESADE, ESCP, ESSEC, Lancaster, Lisbon, Rotterdam, and Strathclyde, and is projected to add a significant number of additional esteemed programs during 2014. ______________ MasterTaste is the rapidly-expanding international initiative of Campus Channel, a popular resource for Higher Education in France, broadcasting interactive live online broadcasts for university applicants. A start-up less than three years old, Campus Channel counts more than 50% of French universities as clients, producing hundreds of interviews per season.